The Greatest Enemies of Venezuela
www.11abril.com Alexandra Beech New York 12 de February del 2003
Good day,
Each day that passes, I become convinced that the greatest enemy of Venezuelan democracy is not Hugo Chavez, who was elected in 1998 by a 35% vote. The greatest enemies that Venezuela confronts today are ignorance and arrogance.
When I write "ignorance," I am referring both to the ignorance in Venezuela and in the world at large. While past failed policies created a poor majority with little access to education, this is not the ignorance I would like to address, even though Chavez has capitalized on that ignorance to promote his brand of inept government. The other type of domestic ignorance afflicts "educated" people, and this ignorance is doing the most harm. Because of the insidious nature of Venezuelan politics, it is often easier to march than to think about what is actually going on. It is easier to sign petitions and petitions, instead of understanding the intricacies and dynamics of the process of change. In our complacent and lax nature, many Venezuelans would rather fret and think about a future without Chavez, instead of the concrete steps that it will take to recover the country from chaos. Almost everyone I know can recite ten emotionally based reasons why Chavez should leave, along with at least three economic indicators. When asked what percentage of the population needs to sign a petition for a referendum, or how a constitutional assembly is formed, many of us shrink or "have to think about it."
Therefore, I am proud to share with you a document that my friend Michael Penfold recently produced with his colleague, Francisco Monaldi, titled "Constitutional Alternatives for Solving Venezuela’s Political Crisis: Lapses, Obstacles, and Long Term Consequences" (word document). Reading it last night, I felt a surge of relief and panic; relief that I was finally understanding the process, and panic that Chavez has so advantages. Please take the time to read it today.
Examples of international ignorance towards Venezuela abound. And why not? Except for providing a lot of oil to international markets, we have hardly featured in the news. When was the last time we produced a novelist of international renown, a human rights icon, a political leader of international dimensions, or even a pop star? I don't know a lot about Burundi, as much as Burundi may feel like the center of the universe to the 6,134,000 people who live there.
In fact, Venezuela didn't make it on the international news landscape until the December 2 strike. And it wasn't because the world cared about the collapse of our democracy, but because gasoline prices rose ten cents on the gallon.
Undoubtedly, those in the government who handle information know that most of the world is ignorant. That is why they bought an eight-page insert that appeared in the New York Times on December 23, 2002, describing how wonderful and idyllic Venezuela was. As Venezuela entered the third week of the strike, Americans read pieces titled "Strategic Ally has Bright Prospects", "Firms Rise to Construction Challenge", and "Spiritual Values and a Yen for Development". Only those who read the tiny script at the top of each page would have noticed, "Special Advertising Section."
Money talks, no doubt, but ignorance talks louder. Europeans have their own challenges, as attested by a piece in The Socialist Worker, which describes the strike as: "highly undemocratic--and is directed against any political or economic advances made by Venezuelan workers, the unemployed or the rural poor." Any Venezuelan who has experienced the crisis knows that under Chavez's economic policies, those most afflicted have been the workers, the unemployed, and the poor. But the Europeans love a social struggle between the natives of the third world. It is their raison d'etre.
The opposition is arrogant in assuming that it has time to squabble over who should be its candidate, who should announce the Sumate petition results, or who has the best transition program. They should function on the assumption that the country is an intensive care unit under the guidance of an incompetent surgeon, and that all measures need to be taken now. That means one candidate now, and one transition program now. If they can prove to the world that they are solid and united in their effort to elect a new president and embark on a course to democracy, then their case will be made before the world.
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